Sliver collecting means



Aug. 16, 1949. R. c. wlLKlE 2,478,960

SLIVER COLLECTING MEANS Filed June 21, 1945 I 5 Sheets-Sheet l l H' .3. INVENroA R92 g, Maxam Aug; 16, 1949. R, wlLKlE 2,478,960

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INVENTOR.

20mn/ML Patented ug. 16, 1949 SLIVER COLLECTING MEANS Robert C. Wilkie, Andover, Mass., assignor to Paciiic Mills, Lawrence, Mass., a corporation of y Massachusetts Application June 2l, 1946, Serial No. 678,271

4 Claims. (Cl. Iii-159) 'I'his invention relates to sliver collecting means for drawing frames and other similar machines, and more particularly to means to compact the sliver as it is coiled in the cans, and to means-to package the coiled sliver for ready removal in package form from the cans.

One object of this invention is to deposit the sliver in evenly compacted symmetrically disposed coilswithinthe sliver cans in such a way as to minimize any unused or wasted space within said cans.

Another object is to package the coiled sliver so that the package may be removed from the can whereby the use ofsliver cans as mere containers or storage vessels after said cans have been filled with the coiled product may be eliminated, thereby decreasing by a very large and` economical percentage the number of cans normally used in the textile industry.

Other objects of this invention will appear from the following description and be more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the use of cans, known in the art as sliver cans, the can is given a horizontal orbital motion underneath a revolving coller head which deposits the sliver coils in the can, The cans may be filled singly or, if in groups or series, may be lled simultaneously, or each may be illled while the others of the group or series are in different and various stages of completion in any orderl desired.

A preferred yform of this invention is shown in the drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the can-supporting table of a machine for filling the cans;

Fig. 2 is a view in vertical cross-section of the sliver can at the initial introduction of the sliver from the coller head;

Fig. 3 is a view in elevation of` a sliver can approximately one-third full of the coiled sliver with part of the can broken away;

Fig. 4 is a view in vertical cross-section of the sliver can, after it has been filled by and removed from the machine, showing the coiled sliver formed into a package;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatical plan View of a coiling of the sliver;

Fig. 6 is a cro`ss-section of the end of the rod 36;

Fig. 7 is a view in vertical cross-section of a modication;

Fig. 8 is a plan view of Fig. '7; and

Fig. 9 is a cross section of the spring device shown in Fig. '7.

The sliver is delivered to the can throughs.

passage 34 in the rotating coller head 33, Fig. 2. as well known in the art.

A sliver can i0, Fig. 1, which may be one of a group or series of cans, is supported on table Il and located thereon by raised plate l2, an integral part of, or rigidly fixed to, table il. The mechanism for giving the table an orbital motion in a horizontal plane comprises a pair of worm gears i3 mounted on and rotated about ilxed studs il and provided with eccentrically mounted and freely rotatable bushings i5 which are equivalent to crankpins, The gears i3 are engaged by worms i6 mounted on a shaft i1 which is driven and connected by means (not shown) to rotate in fixed speed relation to the rotation of the coller head. The bushings i5 are so located in the worm gears i3 and the latter are so meshed with the worms i6 that the bushings i5 rotate in angular unison and the distance between them remains constant. The table Ii is provided with downwardly extending pins or studs I8, which are adapted to enter slidably the bushings i5, and also with two additional pins or studs I9, which are adapted to enter slidably bushings 20 mounted for free rotation at the free ends oi.'

crank members or arms 2i pivoted on studs 22.`

The bushings 20 are mounted at the same radial distance from their centers of rotation as are bushings i5. As the studs i8 are inserted in bushings l5 and the studs i9 lin the bushings 2B, the table I i, is firmly supported near each corner thereof but in such a manner that it may be moved bodily in an orbit in a horizontal plane when the worm gears i3 are rotated in unison.

The sliver can i0 is offset or eccentrically positioned with respect to the coller head and the orbital motion of the can is at a, much slower speed than the rotation oi.' the coiler head whereby the sliver is deposited in the can in a helix of superposed and substantially circular coils. The mechanism so far described is not a part of my l invention.

In the preferred form of my invention I predetermine. the radialequal distances between the axes of the xed studs I4 and the axes of the studs i8 and between the axes of the studs 22 and the axes of studs i9 so that those distances are unequal to, preferably greater than, the radius of the can whereby each sliver coil is tangential to a hole 26a, Fig. 5, which is produced in the center of the mass of the coiled sliver and is in line with the. axis of the can.

A ring 23 is vertically movable within the can, Fig. 2, and on the ring rests a disc 24, constituting a circular false bottom, which is held laterally by a circumferential flanged! on the ring 23. Disc 24 has a hole 23 through its center. To three points 21, equally spaced around the lower outside periphery of ring 23, are attached the ends of three cords 28. These cords pass through openings 29 which are located at equal intervals around and at points just under the rim of the can. In each of said openings is a pulley sheave so mounted on a pin 32. A cord 23 passes over each sheave and is attached to weighted ring 3| encircling the outside of the can. Each of the innermost points of sheaves 30 is substantially vertically over each of points 21. The sheaves are of such size and so placed that ring 23 may be raised and lowered freely within the can and so that the cords may support the counterweight ring 3| which has a sufficiently large internal diameter so that it renders freely outside of the can.

The sliver is delivered through a passage 34 in the rotating coiler head 33, Fig. 2. The undersurface of the head 33 is smooth and flat and the circular edge of the mouth of the passage 34 is rounded to minimize friction between these parts and the moving sliver. The upper surface of disc 24 is roughened, corrugated or hatched and may be provider with circumferential anges, ribs or guides to hold in place frictionally thereon the bottom layer of the sliver coils.

In Fig. 2 disc 24, resting on ring 23 is shown substantially at its highest position, slightly tilted, however, by the interposition and displacing effect of the sliver delivered from passage 34. The disc and ring 23 are soon automatically brought into a horizontal position, as they descend, by the increasingly even distribution of the weight of sliver over the upper surface of the disc and of the pressure between the undersurface of the rotating head 33 and the sliver and by the weight of ring 3| hanging evenly on all of the -three cords 28. The sliver is initially drawn out of the mouth of passage 34 by its adherence to the rough surface of the disc and thereafter by its own coherence and contact of the coils inter-se after said surface has been covered with the coiled sliver. As a result, the sliver is pulled from the passage 34 continuously and throughout the coiling. Even compacting of sliver into the coils provides a package of substantially uniform density throughout.

In Fig. 3 the disc 24, resting on ring 23, has been forced down about one-third of its way by the weight of the coiled sliver and by the pressure of the latter against the under-surface of the coiler head 33. The ring 3l has been correspondingly raised by the cords 28. The weight of the ring-3| maintains a pressure on the coiled sliver between the under-surface of coiler head 33 and the upper surface of disc 24 thereby insuring a uniform coiling and a compact mass of sliver within the can.

In Fig. 4 the can has been lled with coiled.`

sliver and removed from beneath the coller head. Disc 24 and ring 23 have descended to their 10W- est positions with the latter adjacent the 'bottom l The amount of sliver fed into the can may be so controlled that, when the can is removed from beneath the coller head and the compression of the coiled sliver is released, the latter may expand and rise, but not enough to distort the shape and general conformation of the coiled sliver.

The mass of coiled sliver is formed into a package for bodily removal from the can with rod 38. Fig. 4, inserted through hole 23a formed by the coils of sliver, Fig. 5, before described. The lower end of said rod, Fig. 6, may be pointed to facilitate its ingress and passage through the hole in the coiled sliver and through the hole 23 in the disc 24. The end of the rod is provided with suitable means to prevent its being drawn back through the hole 23. Such means may consist of a threaded engagement with the sides of the hole 28 or of a latch as shown in Fig. 6. The upper end of the rod is provided with a handle 31 to lift the rod, the disc and the mass of coiled sliver as a unit out of the can. This unit or package of coiled sliver may thus be taken to the next machine for processing the sliver. The can may now be replaced under the coller head for its next filling.

In Fig. 5 the sliver is diagrammatically shown coiled within a can. The shape and general conformation of the coils and interrelationship of one coil to another is the product of the motions of the coller head and of the can above described. Each coil is looped at its innermost point within the can interiorly tangential to and around the hole 26a, formed by said coils, through which the rod may be inserted.

As an alternative, the mechanism, which gives the can its orbital movement, may be so proportioned that the diameter of the sliver coil is less than the radius of the can, thereby providing a hole, corresponding to hole 26a. in the center of the mass of the sliver coils. If desired, the mechanism may be so proportioned as to leave no hole in said mass.

In the modification shown in Figs. 7, 8 and 9, the ring 23, on which is mounted the disc 24, is lifted by cords which are pulled by spring devices mounted on brackets attached to the outside of the can. Each of the cords 28 leads from a point 2l on the ring 23 over a pulley 38 to a grooved drum 38 to which the end of the cord is fastened. One end of a coil spring 40, contained within the drum, is fastened to the drum and the other end is fastened to a`pin 33 on which the drum is journaled. As the ring 23 is lowered by the accumulation thereon of coiled' sliver, the springs pull on the cords to maintain an upward pressure on the ring 23 which increases as the ring descends thereby compensating for the additional weight of the coiled sliver on the ring and providing the desired upward pressure of the coiled sliver against the coller head 33, Fig. 3.

I claim:

l. An apparatus for filling a can with coiled sliver and removing the coiled sliver from the can which comprises means rotatable about the axis of the can to deliver the sliver to the opening in the top of the can, means to impart an orbital motion to the can including devices so proportioned that the diameter of the orbit is greater than the radius of the can whereby an axial hole is provided in the center of the mass of coiled sliver, a can adapted to be filled with coiled sliver and having within it a verticallyl movable sliver support including a ring and a disc mounted thereon and having a hole at its center, pulley top, cords passing over said sheaves and attached to said ring, drums rotatably mounted on the outside of said can to which said cords are attached and on which the cords are adapted to be wound and coil springs within' and attached to said drums' and exerting pulls on saidcords, a rod adapted to be inserted in the hole in the center of the mass of sliver and in the hole in the center of the disc and having means at its inserted end to engage said disc.

` 2. An apparatus for lling a can with coiled sliver and removing the coiled sliver from the can so proportioned that the diameter of the orbit .is greater vthan the radius of the can, a can i' adapted to be illled with coiled sliver having a vertically movable sliver support within the can, pulley sheaves mounted adjacent to the top of said can, cords passing over said sheaves and attached to said sliver support, drums rotatably mounted on the outside oi said can to which-said cords are attached and on which the cords are which comprises means rotatable about the axis ofthe can to deliver the sliver to the opening in the top of the can, means to impart an orbital motion to the can including devices so proportioned that the diameter of the orbit isgreater than the radius oi the can whereby an axial hole is provided in the center oi.' the mass of coiled sliver, a can adapted to be filled with coiled sliver and having a vertically movable sliver support within the can, pulley sheaves mounted on 'the can adjacent to its top, cords passing over said sheaves and attached to said sliver support, drums rotatably mounted on the outside of said can to which said cords are attached and on which the cords are adapted to be wound and coil springs within and attached to said drums and exerting increasing pulls on said cords as the sliver support in the can is lowered, a-rod adapted to be inserted in the hole in the center of the mass of sliver and having means at its inserted end to engage said sliver support.

3. An apparatus for iilling a can with coiled sliver which comprises means rotatable about the axis of the can to deliver the sliver to the opening in the top of the can, means to impart an orbital motion to the can including devices 80 Number v Name Date 403,304; Sutcliffe \-1..- May 14, 1889 1,312,953 cook Aug.- V12, 1919 FOREIGN PATENTS $5 Number Country Date 579 Great Britain -1871 1,794 Great Britain 1870 h 18,657 Great Britain 1899 adapted to be wound and coil springs within and attached to said drums and exerting pulls on said cords.

4. A can adapted to be filled with coiled sliver having a vertically movable sliver support within the can, pulley sheaves mounted on said can ad'- jacent to its top, cords passing over said sheaves and attached to said sliver support, drums rotatably mounted on the outside of said can to which said cords are attached and on which the cords are adapted to be wound and coil springs within and attached to said drums and exerting pulls on said cords and on the sliver support.

f ROBERT C. WILKIE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

